Number of Arba’een pilgrims grows by 12 % this year

"Shalamcheh border crossing, which is the second busy border for pilgrims after Mehran border crossing, recorded the crossing of more than 100,000 people in the past 24 hours, Mir Ahmadi said. 

"The number of pilgrims who crossed the borders was more than 3,350,000 people, showing a 12% increase compared to the same period last year," the official said.

He put the number of the pilgrims who have so far returned to the country after doing the pilgrimage in Karbala at 1.4 million.

Iranian, Pakistani and Azerbaijani Arbaeen pilgrims use six border crossings of Khosravi, Mehran, Chazzabeh, Shalamcheh, Tamarchin and Bashmaq in the west, northwest and southwest of Iran for crossing into Iraq to go to Karbala, where the holy shrine of Imam Hussein (AS) is located.

Arbaeen comes 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom anniversary of the third Shiite Imam, Imam Hussein (AS). The Arbaeen pilgrimage takes place between Ashura and Arbaeen days.